NOT JUST SENTIMETALITIES
If you never overlooked our sins, Yahweh, Lord, could anyone survive? But you do forgive us: and for that we revere you. Ps. 130:3, 4, Jerusalem.
What would you think of a nurse who said, "I'm going to take your blood pressure," then endeavored to do it by placing a thermometer under your tongue? Would you trust a mechanic who checked the points on your engine by reading the oil pressure gauge? Even though these are all vital measurements, it can be dangerous to confuse them one for another.
What if someone were to ask you, "Have you been forgiven?" What would you measure as a means of determining your answer? Could that, perhaps, depend on what you feel to be the problem that forgiveness is solving?
In checking their forgiveness, many would first measure to see whether they have any remaining feelings of guiltiness. They would recall feelings of shame and unworthiness in the presence of a holy God. They would recall a sense of rejection, of being unloved, and of bruised self-worth. Then they would check to see whether all these feelings were gone. If any such feelings ever surfaced, they would conclude that God had not forgiven them.
But may I suggest that the very fact that you are alive is more than just evidence, it is proof, that you are forgiven. Guilt and forgiveness are more than just feelings. They are more than sentimentalities. Even though separation from God will always bring bad feelings, they are not the sum total of the guilt problem. Separation from God brings death; every living person must acknowledge that he is living in grace. He is living because God has held off that second-death consequence.
To be unforgiven, then, is not to be having bad feelings. To be unforgiven is to be dead! If the Lord had dealt with each of us as He rightly could have, who could survive? But He has instead offered forgiveness to all mankind. Because Jesus has borne that death-consequence in our place, we all live! This, of course, does not mean that all mankind shall be saved, for not all mankind has come to trust the Forgiver. Those who are ultimately lost will give evidence of their stubborn rejection of Him.
Every heartbeat, every breath, is a reminder that our Father "does not deal with us according to our sins" (Ps. 103:10, R.S.V.). What better reason could we find to revere Him?
If you never overlooked our sins, Yahweh, Lord, could anyone survive? But you do forgive us: and for that we revere you. Ps. 130:3, 4, Jerusalem.
What would you think of a nurse who said, "I'm going to take your blood pressure," then endeavored to do it by placing a thermometer under your tongue? Would you trust a mechanic who checked the points on your engine by reading the oil pressure gauge? Even though these are all vital measurements, it can be dangerous to confuse them one for another.
What if someone were to ask you, "Have you been forgiven?" What would you measure as a means of determining your answer? Could that, perhaps, depend on what you feel to be the problem that forgiveness is solving?
In checking their forgiveness, many would first measure to see whether they have any remaining feelings of guiltiness. They would recall feelings of shame and unworthiness in the presence of a holy God. They would recall a sense of rejection, of being unloved, and of bruised self-worth. Then they would check to see whether all these feelings were gone. If any such feelings ever surfaced, they would conclude that God had not forgiven them.
But may I suggest that the very fact that you are alive is more than just evidence, it is proof, that you are forgiven. Guilt and forgiveness are more than just feelings. They are more than sentimentalities. Even though separation from God will always bring bad feelings, they are not the sum total of the guilt problem. Separation from God brings death; every living person must acknowledge that he is living in grace. He is living because God has held off that second-death consequence.
To be unforgiven, then, is not to be having bad feelings. To be unforgiven is to be dead! If the Lord had dealt with each of us as He rightly could have, who could survive? But He has instead offered forgiveness to all mankind. Because Jesus has borne that death-consequence in our place, we all live! This, of course, does not mean that all mankind shall be saved, for not all mankind has come to trust the Forgiver. Those who are ultimately lost will give evidence of their stubborn rejection of Him.
Every heartbeat, every breath, is a reminder that our Father "does not deal with us according to our sins" (Ps. 103:10, R.S.V.). What better reason could we find to revere Him?
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